When I'm Gone
by Porcelain-Carrier-67
Summary: This is an Amuto songfic with the lyrics to "When I'm Gone" by Three Doors Down. I never really noticed, but it's super-hard to write a summary for these things! So, if you're curious, go on and click. Rated T for safety


DISCLAIMER: I don't own Shugo Chara! In any way, shape, or form--otherwise the Amuto pairing would have totally killed off Amu-and-Tadase in the first episode.

Alright--this'll be a one-shot! I was just watching a video on YouTube about Amu and Ikuto with the song _When I'm Gone_ by _Three Doors Down _and had an epiphany! So, let's see where it takes us.

_Song lyrics_

--

Amu tore open her front door and raced to her room without saying a word to the people she passed once inside. Flying up the stairs, she slammed her bedroom door open, then closed it quickly, grimacing at the sight that greeted her.

"Didn't I tell you that you needed to lock your balcony up before?" Ikuto taunted breezily. "Bad men can get in."

"I knew I saw a suspicious character near here," Amu sighed.

The cat-like boy was lying comfortably on her bed; one leg dangling over the side.

His mysterious blue eyes glittered. "Suspicious, eh? I think I recall a certain someone stampeding up to her room without an reason. How long do you suppose she has before her mother knocks on her door?"

A light rapping ensued. "Amu-chan? Is everything…alright?"

"J-Just fine!" Amu stammered. "I have a ton of homework and didn't want anything to distract me from getting right to it--tell dad I'm fighting especially hard!" she cheered.

"Do your best, sweetie!" her mother called back.

She deflated when the footsteps receded from her hearing and turned to face Ikuto with a scornful look. "I haven't seen you in ages. What do you want--catnip?"

His gaze retreated from hers for a moment, contemplating how to respond. The normal mocking tone she'd grown accustomed to did not follow.

"I'm a stray cat--if I want to remain as I am, sometimes I have to leave. If I lose sight of making myself happy whenever I need to… I just can't live like that. I'm only hanging on to that happiness by a thread most days…I'm not sure what it takes to strengthen it…" he mused softly.

_There's another world inside of me_

_That you may never see._

_There are secrets in this life that I can't hide._

_Somewhere in this darkness there's a light that I can't find--_

_Maybe it's too far away, yeah. Or maybe I'm just blind;_

_Maybe I'm just blind…_

"Ikuto?" Amu whispered, moving closer to him and kneeling on the floor next to his head. She brushed his bangs to the side. "Aah!"

He suddenly jumped up and pounced on her, encircling her waist with his arms and falling onto the floor with her.

"What are you--?" she began.

"For just a minute…do I really need to move?" he cut her off. "I haven't seen you in a while and I miss _something _about you."

_So hold me when I'm here,_

_Right me when I'm wrong,_

_Hold me when I'm scared,_

_And love me when I'm gone._

"You aren't being fair," she pouted, letting him hold her. "How can I say no to such a request--when you're acting so innocently."

" 'Acting'?" he echoed. "How do you know that I'm really so impure? How are you so sure that I don't need affection?"

"I'd like it if you admitted that _before_ showering me with that so-called 'affection'," Amu replied.

"I'm sorry."

"I never asked you to be sorry about it."

"You just want me to feel bad."

"No--I want you to realize your mistake!" He chuckled at her lightly. "What is it?" she huffed.

"I like having a mom tell me how to be," he explained.

"Mom!" she exclaimed.

_Everything I am_

_And everything you need_

_Wants to be the one you wanted me to be_

_I'll never let you down--even if I could._

_I'd give up everything, if only for your good._

_So hold me when I'm here,_

_Right me when I'm wrong,_

_You can hold me when I'm scared,_

_I won't always be there,_

_So love me when I'm gone…_

_Love me when I'm gone._

"If you aren't pretending to be a mother, then what cover are you trying to use in order to teach me?" he asked musically.

"I don't know--you're just so--something!" Amu burst, attempting to untangle herself from his grasp.

"You don't know what I am?" he clarified.

"That isn't what I…" she trailed off.

"In that case, you'll never know."

"Why?"

"I'm not that easy of a person to persuade. And you're no Easter."

She stared into his troubled liquid eyes in a new light. Amu understood that he'd been trudging through their demands while simultaneously tearing apart the pieces of who he was. No matter what he did, he always had to come back. There wasn't any place that he could run to and just relax, knowing that he was safe. Ikuto _always_ had to return.

_When your education x-ray cannot see under my skin,_

_I won't tell you a damn thing that I _

_Could not tell my friends._

_Roaming through this darkness I'm alive, but I'm alone._

_And part of me is fighting this--_

_But part of me is gone!_

"Amu?" he questioned, breaking her from the trance she'd settled into.

"You're a liar and a con man," she murmured.

"You're a flat-chested, overly-ecstatic, shortie, but I'm not calling _you_ names," he retorted dully.

"If you want someone to help you, just say it!" she quaked, startling him. "It doesn't matter if all I can do is listen or let you laze around my room--I want to be there for you! Whatever I can do to make you feel happy, I want to try it!" she decreed hotly.

_So hold me when I'm here,_

_Right me when I'm wrong,_

_Hold me when I'm scared,_

_And love me when I'm gone._

_Everything I am_

_And everything you need_

_Wants to be the one you wanted me to be._

_I'll never let you down--even if I could._

_I'd give up everything, if only for your good._

_So hold me when I'm here,_

_Right me when I'm wrong,_

_You can hold me when I'm scared,_

_I won't always be there,_

_So love me when I'm gone…!_

"Amu…" he whispered, sitting up and leaning his head against her shoulder. "You're so rash. Do you even realize the full extent of what you're promising to me?" He fell back after a few seconds to gauge her determined expression.

"I know you might not be around everyday and that there's a good chance you'll be away for weeks at a time…but if I can, I'd like to be here for you if you'd like to vacation here once in a while," she grinned. "I really just want to help you as much as I possibly can."

Too quick for her to see it until it was happening, he kissed her gently.

"Do you promise me?"

After a stunned silence, she blushed and looked to the side before gathering the courage to steal a sideways glance at him. "I promise--even when you're gone."

_So hold me when I'm here,_

_Right me when I'm wrong,_

_You can hold me when I'm scared,_

_I won't always be there,_

_So love me when I'm gone…!_

"Thank you, Amu," he smiled.

She kissed him happily and countered: "Anything for a perverted, cat-ears, cosplay guy."

--

Me: Yay! That was fun~! I really should get back to writing--I feel bad that I've been abusing my reader's wishes.

Audience: Lazy bum.

Me: I will attack you like white on rice!

Audience: I really can't rely on you to make sense, can I?

Me: TEMARI CHARA CHANGE!!

Audience: Oh, dear. Nagehiko…? Where are you?!

My deepest thanks for reading:

Porcelain-Carrier-67


End file.
